@fFOOTACTION

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, called for more widespread use of the full-body scanners after the aborted attack.

A suspected terrorist's attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner may override privacy concerns and intensify a push for full-body scanning equipment at airports.

U.S. officials charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to blow up Northwest Flight 253 as it prepared to land in Detroit on Christmas Day. President Barack Obama said yesterday he ordered a thorough review of the episode and called for new scrutiny of screening policies and technologies.

Metal detectors currently used to screen passengers wouldn't have found the explosive allegedly carried aboard by the suspect, said former Federal Aviation Administration security chief Billie Vincent. Only more sophisticated devices such as low-level X-rays and millimeter-wave technology would work, Vincent said.

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, called for more widespread use of the full-body scanners after the aborted attack. "We were very lucky this time but we may not be so lucky next time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened," Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement yesterday.

"If you want me to line up all the black actors, for example, who support me and put them on one side of the room and a couple who are grumbling on the other, I'm happy to have that," Obama said.

Several black legislators say Obama must do more for recession-stricken minorities.

Some 15.6% of blacks nationwide are out of work, compared with the overall 10% unemployment rate.

"The only thing I cannot do is, by law, I cannot pass laws that say 'I'm just helping black folks.' I'm the President of the entire United States," Obama said. "What I can do is make sure that I am passing laws that help all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and most in need."

The former model says the syndicated "The Tyra Show" will end after its fifth season. Banks says she's sticking with the reality show "America's Next Top Model" and is forming a new production studio with plans to make movies. She also promised new digital projects, but wouldn't give details.

In a statement on her Web site, Banks also paid tribute to talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, who's ending her talk show in 2011.

About her own show, Banks told fans: "I've been loving having fun, coming into your living rooms, bedrooms, hair salons for the past five years."

But as the first calendar year of the new White House regime draws to a close, First Lady Michelle Obama is experiencing the same drop in poll numbers as her husband. She's not elected, of course, and not charged at least officially with making the tough executive decisions that come out of the Oval Office.

As a result, first ladies have typically fared better in different public opinion polls than their more controversial husbands. And now even as the female Harvard lawyer in the family and the one with the famously buff arms, Mrs. O still remains somewhat more popular than her spouse.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 55% of Americans have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama. That's down 7 points, or 11%, since November's survey and it's her lowest approval level since holding the Bible for her Democratic husband, Barack, to take the oath of office on that cold D.C day back on Jan. 20.

Her approval rating is perhaps more interesting than other first ladies because she played such an active and sometimes controversial role in her husband's $750-million campaign and has taken on some high-profile assignments during her husband's early months in ...

... the Oval Office. This includes leading the Chicago delegation to Copenhagen this fall in its unsuccessful bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and persuading her husband to make a plea there too.

Neither Obama is running for any office in next fall's crucial midterm elections, of course. But declining approval rates for both could indicate not only a general falling out of love with the couple but further electoral trouble for Democratic campaigns during double-digit unemployment and an increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan.

Mrs. Obama's highest approval since Rasmussen began monitoring the first lady's public standing last winter was 67% and her previous low was 57%. Fewer than 1 in 3 Americans (31%) now regard her very favorably.

Thirty-seven percent now regard her unfavorably (17% somewhat unfavorably and 20% very unfavorably). Previous unfavorables ranged from 35% to 24%.

Eighty-five percent of Democrats in the monthly Rasmussen study of the first lady approve of her in that role, 43% of independents and only 33% of Republicans. Women approve of Mrs. Obama much more than men do, but women also see her as more involved in administration policy decisions.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on Dec. 20 and 21, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Rasmussen Reports does daily tracking polls of the president's approval. Late last week that Tracking Poll found only 25% of Americans strongly approved of Obama's work as president, while 46% strongly disapproved.

By Rasmussen's method, that gives Obama a minus-21 approval index, the largest gap, meaning greatest disapproval, since he took office with such great hope and promise.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Have you ever wondered if there is someone out there who looks just like you? Probably everyone has entertained the thought at some point. But the thought of it actually happening? Well, if you're really that curious, here's your opportunity.

The Facial Profiler, a new facebook app, is actually an ad campaign launched by Coke Zero, its point being that the calorie-free version is so much like the real thing, they can prove it by showing that every single person on the planet has a doppelganger. Here's how it works: you upload a photo of yourself and you're matched with a similar-looking Facial Profiler user. The idea is that you can find your mirror image, just the way Coke has in Coke Zero

I suppose it's kind of a cool concept, if you can get past the high creepiness factor. I don't know if I want to know that there's another person walking around out there with my face. And what happens once I find that person? Do we build an online bonding relationship and hope to meet in person one day so we can sit and stare at each other?

Coca-Cola is aware of the potential privacy concerns that a facial-matching app could raise, but it has been working with Facebook for months to ensure the app follows the site’s privacy rules. Facial Profiler users will be able to send friend requests to their lookalikes, but Coke admits it doesn’t quite know how members will use it. "Alex Burnard, a creative director for the ad firm that worked with Coca-Cola on this project, has watched members’ reactions when they find their matches, saying that it introduces “a new social dynamic” that people haven’t encountered before.

The software is based on the same kind of technology used by law-enforcement agencies to locate individuals within large pools of people. Watching the ad on the Coke Zero website feels like watching a preview for a psychological thriller about doppelgangers, or a 20/20 special on identity theft. It's pretty intense. As a big fan of Coca-Cola products and avid facebook-user, I'm not so sure about this one, but you just have to go to the website and see for yourself.

The 23 year old Nigerian terroristUmar Farouk Abdul Mutallab (Possible Facebook page) who tried to ignite a PETN based explosive on a Northwest airplane flight yesterday is in federal custody. The former college student in London told United states authorities he received his orders in Yemen. PETN is highly explosive and is used in mining and construction. One thing that is not clear is if the PETN was being used as a trigger for something more powerful. It would appear that the young Nigerian was not properly instructed on how to ignite the explosive. some are comparing him already to the infamous shoe bomber Richard Reid. By all accounts it appears the young terrorist wannabe had to perform a bit of lab work on the plane to make the explosive ready. I took a quick glance on PETN synthesis readily available on the internet, my advice is if you are anything short of a degree in chemistry not to try this at home. If the Nigerian used low concentration ingredients, which is likely judging from the fire, he was probably setting off what amounts to a large and dangerous firecracker.

His father, a Nigerian banker has told authorities that he has not talked to his son since he left for London for his engineering studies. Mutallab was obviously doing a little more than the average student when not in class. President Barack Obama has been keeping abreast of the situation from his vacation spot in Hawaii. The Nigerian insists he is an agent for al-Qaida.

One thing authorities can be sure of, Umar Mutallab was not trying to blow up this airplane to pay his rent. Judging from the pictures in the slide of his apartment, this little brat was living large on some major coin. Another product of a fossil fuel giant goes bad.

Statement issued by White House press through pool, “The President convened a secure call this morning at 6:20 a.m. Hawaiian time with John Brennan, his Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism Adviser, and Denis McDonough, National Security Staff Chief of Staff, where he received an update on the heightened air travel safety measures being taken to keep the American people safe and on the investigation. The President will continue to actively monitor the situation.”

All airplanes coming into U.S. are subject to increased security around the world and passengers can expect longer delays during preflight boarding.

Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which began in Nigeria before stopping in Amsterdam and heading to Detroit, was the target of a terrorist attack on Christmas day. Abdul Mudallad, a 23-year-old Nigerian claimed to be acting on behalf of al-Qaida when he attempted, but failed, to detonate a device that is being described as very sophisticated. The White House responded by increasing air travel security to the appropriate measures. Mudallad is currently in the custody of the U.S Customs and Border Protection.

Abdul Mudallad is claiming to have extremist ties and that he acquired the device in Yemen with instructions as to when the device should be used. He is known in counter-terror circles and is an Islamic extremist. We'll wait and see if the media tries to cover up his Muslim faith as they did with the Fort Hood shooter.

Witnesses on board originally thought it was a firecracker that was ignited in a pillowcase. Early reports indicate that one passenger acted heroically and leapt over seats to restrain the terrorist and incurred minor burns in the process. The flight landed safely in Detroit. No deaths were reported, but some passengers sustained injuries.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued an intelligence report on November 20th about the possible threat during the 2009 holiday season from Thanksgiving to January 1st. The report didn't contain any specific threats, though, or plans by al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

"Carlos Irwin Estevez, also known as the actor Charles I. Sheen, was brought to the Pitkin County Colorado Jail for booking and incarceration following his arrest by the Aspen Police Department," sheriff's patrol director Jeff Lumsden said in a statement.

Sheen's publicist, Stan Rosenfield, cautioned that "appearance and reality can be as different as night and day. It would benefit everyone not to jump to any conclusion," People magazine reported.

[Update, 8:58 p.m.: Sheen was released from Pitkin County Jail around 7 p.m. Friday after posting an $8,500 bond, said Stephanie Dasaro, a spokeswoman with the Aspen Police Department. He is scheduled to appear at the Pitkin County Courthouse on Feb. 8, 2010.

In Colorado, those conditions include no contact with the victim, the victim's family or any witnesses; no harassing or intimidation of the victim; no entry to the family residence until further order of the court; no consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs; and no possession of guns or other weapons. Arrest on any subsequent criminal offense would be seen as a bail violation, and violation of the conditions of the bond may be deemed contempt of court and could lead to a fine or jail time.]

[Update, 5:34 p.m.: TMZ also is reporting that Sheen told police Mueller was the aggressor.]

[Update, 5:51 p.m.: Sheen had gone to Aspen to spend Christmas with Mueller, according to RadarOnline -- the site said Brooke had rented a home in Colorado for about three months while Charlie stayed in Los Angeles.]

The actor, among the highest paid in prime-time TV, earning about half-a-million bucks for each episode of his sitcom "Two and a Half Men," has a checkered past, including stints in rehab and allegations of spending tens of thousands of dollars on call girls.

IN A SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN, Alex Jones warns against the Big Government, Big Insurance Health Care Bill being forced down in the Senate despite opposition by members in both parties and an overwhelming majority of Americans.

After all the denial, the final version of the bill proves to have in place the so-called death panels, the abortion funding, no public option, cuts in Medicare and forced coverage backed by heavy fines or prison.

Outrageously, Senator Reid & co. have added a section to the bill, Section 3403, that prevents any future Congress from changing the Medicare Advisory Boards (i.e. the 'death panels'). Section 3403 reads "it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

A Marietta woman and her boyfriend are in jail after their 2-month-old daughter was found to have 20 broken bones and a skull fracture, Cobb County Police said.

A Children's Healthcare of Atlanta employee called police after the child was examined at the hospital Tuesday.

Police charged Antoinette White, 22, with aggravated battery, felony cruelty to children and second-degree cruelty to children. She is being held on $100,000 bond. Her boyfriend, Kevin Straight, 32, was charged with second-degree cruelty to children. He is being held on $50,000 bond.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The 00s were a strange decade for hip-hop, as it officially took its place as the most popular musical genre in the world. The market polarized into idiotic one-hit wonders, conscious backpackers, outdated thugs with larger-than-life personalities and imaginary rap sheets, and thousands of other niches. But quality still shone through, with some truly groundbreaking albums hitting the racks. What follows is my list of the 10 best albums to drop over the last 10 years.

10. Kanye West – The College Dropout- A lot of people are saying this is the best album of the decade. I would disagree with that. It's a great album but it's somewhat disjointed and looking at where Kanye is at now musically it already feels a little outdated. What I will say is "Jesus Walks" is one of the best songs of any genre OF ALL TIME!!! OF ALL TIME!!!

9. Madvillain – Madvillainy - MF Doom has never sounded better than he did when he teamed up with Madlib for this little ditty of WTF hip hop. This is not a club album. This is for people who want to be challenged with real lyrics and not for their knowledge of designer clothes or "Famous drug dealers of the 70's and 80's for $200 Alex".

8. Quasimoto – The Unseen - I told you this was the Grown Ass Man's Top 10! I understand that this isn't an album for everyone. The voice is strange as hell but the production is so far ahead of anything on the radio you have to take notice. Madlib is a musical genius and he doesn't like fish sticks.

7. Slum Village – Fantastic Vol. 2- This album allowed me to forgive Jay Dee for the last two Tribe albums and embrace the Detroit sound. Unfortunately Slum Village was never the same after this album with Jay Dee going on to do his own thing and now with the passing of Battin this year they are forever changed.

6. Common – Like Water For Chocolate - This is what happens when hip-hop transcends the KRS-One five elements rules and just becomes really, really good music. Common may be the only rapper alive or ever for that matter to call a woman a bitch and still make it sound like a love song. Too Short could never do that.

5. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele - I LOVE THIS ALBUM! It's one of those don't skip a track joints that still bangs hard, even 10 years later. This album single handedly saved the entire Wu Tang Clan from falling into what I like to call the "Nobody Cares Anymore" section along with the likes of DMX or your 50 Cent types. What ever happened to that MF Doom & Ghostface album?

4. Jay-Z – The Blueprint - I personally like The Black Album more than The Blueprint but I'm not in the mood to hear everybody's crap so I'll let you have this one. HOVA!

3. Outkast - The Love Below - First off let me be clear, I thought Speakerboxxx SUCKED! Andre 3000 did his thing on this and the outcome was their best album since ATLiens. Not to mention that it was the first hip-hop album to win Album of the Year at the Grammys. Can we get another classic please?

2. Kanye West – Graduation - Some would say that College Dropout should rank higher than Graduation, they are WRONG. This album signaled a new direction not only in Kanye's music (808 & Hearbreaks) but for hip-hop as a whole (emo hip-hop i.e. Kid Cudi). Yeah, he's an asshole but he's good at what he does.

1. Jay Dee – Donuts - No album in the past decade has captured the soul and spirit of an artist better than this, and it was all done without him saying a word. The only thing left to say about this album is… TURN IT UP!

Danny Glover, Jesse Jackson, and other activists talk to Lloyd Grove about disappointment in the African-American community with the president's first year.

Danny Glover heaved a sigh when I asked him recently what he thought of President Obama's performance so far.

It wasn't a sigh of relief.

"I think the Obama administration has followed the same playbook, to a large extent, almost verbatim, as the Bush administration. I don't see anything different," the activist movie actor said of Obama's policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. "On the domestic side, look here: What's so clear is that this country from the outset is projecting the interests of wealth and property. Look at the bailout of Wall Street. Why not the bailout of Main Street?"

"He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black—and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman," says Danny Glover. "But what choices do they have within the structure?"

More in sorrow than in anger, Glover went on: "What choice does he have—in four years, eight years? Let's just call a spade a spade. Really. There are no choices out there. He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black—and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman—but what choices do they have within the structure?"

lover is among a growing chorus of African-American opinion leaders who are publicly and privately expressing varying degrees of resignation, disappointment, and outright anger concerning a presidency on which so many hopes have ridden. Who can forget the iconic image of the tear-streaked Rev. Jesse Jackson—who in 1984 and 1988 waged formidable campaigns of his own for the Democratic presidential nomination—as he stood overcome with emotion amid the jubilant crowd at Chicago's Grant Park as Obama gave his victory speech?

Monday, December 21, 2009

At Firedoglake.com we've been covering the health care debate extensively for months now and have put together an incredibly knowledgeable team. So I asked our expert-in-residence Jon Walker, our health care reporter Dave Dayen, analyst Marcy Wheeler and the rest of our team to help make it simple: how do we let people know what's going to happen to them if the Senate bill passes?

Everyone put their heads together and came up with a list:

Top 10 Reasons to Kill Senate Health Care Bill

Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not.

If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.

Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can't afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.

Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.

Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.

Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.

Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.

Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.

No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.

The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, your family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.

The Senate bill isn't a "starter home," it's a sink hole. It needs to die so something else can take its place. It doesn't matter whether people are on the right or the left -- once they understand the con job that's about to be foisted on them, they agree. That's why Harry Reid and President Obama are trying to jam it through as fast as they can, before people get wise. So email the list to your friends and family, tweet it and spread the word

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Reporting from Washington - When Senate Democratic leaders agreed this week to remove a public insurance plan from their massive healthcare bill, they did more than quash a liberal dream of expanding the government safety net. They effectively pinned their hopes of guaranteeing coverage to all Americans on a far more conventional prescription: government regulation.

The change sprang from a compromise made to placate conservative Democrats wary of a new government program. But shorn of a "public option," the Senate healthcare bill has reverted to a long-established practice of leveraging government power to police the private sector, rather than compete with it.

Despite the resistance among Republicans and conservatives to more government regulation, even the insurance industry has agreed to broad new oversight of their business in exchange for the prospect of gaining millions of new customers.

The expanded regulation of insurance programs ultimately could ripple through the entire healthcare system, affecting how doctors, hospitals and other providers care for their patients.

But the success of this approach may well depend on whether regulators have been given enough authority, a question that has received considerably less attention than the ideologically charged battle over a new government insurance plan.

Democrats in the House and Senate have filled their bills with a dizzying array of rules and regulations on insurers. The insurance market provisions in the Senate bill alone run nearly 400 pages.

For example, the Senate legislation would require all insurers to fully cover federally recommended preventive health services, such as immunizations, colonoscopies and HIV testing.

Insurance companies would be prohibited almost immediately from rescinding policies for people who get sick and imposing lifetime limits on how much they pay for customers' healthcare.

And state and federal regulators would be required to set up procedures for reviewing how much insurers charge customers and whether premium increases were justified.

A more intense round of regulation would begin in 2014, when states set up marketplaces, or exchanges, where insurers could sell plans to millions of people who do not get coverage through work.

Companies in the exchanges would have to offer policies to all customers, regardless of their health status. Insurers could not charge older people more than three times what they charge their youngest customers, an unprecedented national restriction on what is known as age-rating.

Every insurance company that offers a plan in these exchanges would have to provide a minimum set of benefits determined by the Department of Health and Human Services.

"In any other year, these changes would be cause for a White House signing ceremony with bands and fireworks," said William Vaughan, health policy analyst for Consumers Union.

Like any regulatory framework, however, this one has holes.

Provisions in the Senate bill that authorize companies to sell nationwide health plans may allow insurers to skirt existing state regulations that require them to cover many medical procedures. And the legislation would ban insurance companies from placing "unreasonable" limits on the annual benefits they pay -- a vague standard that patient groups fear could effectively allow the kind of caps that now leave some consumers with gargantuan medical bills, even if they have insurance.

Other consumer advocates worry that there are insufficient consumer protections against high premiums, even though millions of Americans for the first time would be required to buy medical insurance.

Although the bill mandates that state and federal regulators review rate increases, it is unclear how the regulators would evaluate what insurers want to charge and how aggressively they would restrain the industry.

"The public option was really the best check on the industry," said Jerry Flanagan, patient advocate for California-based Consumer Watchdog. "Though it was small, there was an implicit threat to the industry that it could be expanded. . . . And, unlike regulation, it allowed people to vote with their feet and go somewhere else if they didn't like what insurers were doing."

Consumer Watchdog, the American Cancer Society and other advocacy groups have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to close some loopholes and tighten the regulations before the Senate passes a final bill. full story--The Best Blog on the Webhttp://hiphopcss.com/

A visibly frustrated President Barack Obama was forced to address climate skepticism during his ill-tempered tantrum today in Copenhagen, desperately claiming that man-made climate change was "not fiction," a view not shared by the majority of Americans he has failed to represent as he attempts to ram through a huge transfer of wealth to the new world order.

Obama said he was convinced the danger was real, adding, "This is not fiction, it is science," before resolving to pursue his climate change agenda no matter what happened in Copenhagen – and evidently no matter what Congress or the American people have to say about it.

Obama restated his mission to craft policy that will cut CO2 emissions in America by 80 percent before 2050 – an act that will completely devastate the economy and herald a new great depression as we have previously documented.

He also said that $100 billion dollars would be mobilized for climate financing by 2020, the vast majority of which will come from a global tax on financial transactions and a GDP tax, as we have highlighted.

(Obama said the ability to "take collective action is in doubt right now," admitting that the success of the conference "hangs in the balance."

Upset at the fact that the Copenhagen agenda is stalling, Obama is busily attempting to engineer an agreement via a series of behind closed doors meetings with world leaders.

"President Barack Obama and world leaders are holding another impromptu meeting in search of a climate deal," reports the Associated Press. "Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday that Obama was meeting behind closed doors with the leaders of Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan. Also participating in the talks were developing countries.

When I began handing them out I was physically pushed around by my principal, this didn't stop me from handing out many more flyers to the waiting students, some of which changed their mind and began to leave the line. After being threatened with arrest and removal from school property, I went back to class.

When I was dismissed at 1:30 I ran back to the clinic. After being physical blocked by a public health official I slid under her arm and began peacefully offering nurses more information. This is when my science teacher Scott Wermerskirchen Assaulted me by pushing, bumping, grabbing, and aggressively 'bearhugging' me in an attempt to get my video camera.

The whole altercation was captured on multiple security cameras and seen by over 20 witnesses. The school is refusing to release any video footage, and has not taken action against this teacher. However, the punishment for handing out flyers was a 2 day out of school suspension which was issued to me. This is ludicrous unjust and downright fascist.

Friday, December 18, 2009

FALFURRIAS, Texas — Authorities say Rapper Lil Wayne and 11 people with him have been briefly detained after U.S. Border Patrol officers found marijuana on two of his tour buses.

Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, and the others were questioned and released Friday night. Their case was referred to the Brooks County Sheriff's Office. A sheriff's spokeswoman told The Associated Press that she could not comment.

A drug dog initially detected narcotics on one of the buses, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Marijuana was found during secondary inspections, the agency says.

Lil Wayne's music manager Cortez Bryant and talent agent Cara Lewis have not immediately returned phone messages left at their offices.

The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

Typically, the First Premier card comes with a minimum of $256 in fees in the first year for a credit line of $250. Starting in February, however, a new law will cap such fees at 25 percent of a card's credit line.

In a recent mailing for a preapproved card, First Premier lowers fees to just that limit -- $75 in the first year for a credit line of $300. But the new law doesn't set a cap on interest rates. Hence the 79.9 APR, up from the previous 9.9 percent.

"It's the highest on the market. It's the highest we've ever seen," said Anuj Shahani, an analyst with Synovate, a research firm that tracks credit card mailings.

The terms are eyebrow raising, but First Premier targets people with bad credit who likely can't get approved for cards elsewhere. It's a group that tends to lean heavily on credit too, meaning they'll likely incur the steep financing charges.

So for a $300 balance, a cardholder would pay about $20 a month in interest.

First Premier said the 79.9 APR offer is a test and that it's too early to tell whether it will be continued, according to an e-mailed statement. To comply with the new law, the bank said it will no longer offer the card that has $256 in first-year fees as of Feb. 21, 2010. However, customers will still be able to use their existing cards. The bank said "no final decisions" have been made regarding any rate changes for those cards.

First Premier noted that it needed to "price our product based on the risk associated with this market."

The bank declined to specify how many people were offered the 79.9 APR card.

According to First Premier's Web site, the credit cards are serviced by its sister organization Premier Bankcard. The company, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., says Premier Bankcard is the 10th largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa cards in the country, with more than 3.5 million customers.

In a mailing sent to prospective customers in October with the revamped terms, First Premier writes "...you might have less-than-perfect credit and we're OK with that." The letter notes that an online application or phone call is still required, but guarantees a 60-second status confirmation.

The letter also states there are no hidden fees that aren't disclosed in the attached form. That's where the 79.9 percent interest rate and $75 annual fee are listed. There's also $29 penalty if you pay late or go over your $300 credit limit.

Even if First Premier doesn't stick with the 79.9 APR, it will likely hike rates considerably from the current 9.9 percent to offset the lower fees, said Shahani of Synovate.

The revamped terms may not be the only changes; First Premier also appears to be moving away from the riskiest borrowers.

The bank typically mails offers to subprime households, meaning those with credit scores below 700. In the third quarter, however, 84 percent of its offers were sent to subprime households, down from 91 percent the same period last year, according to Synovate.

First Premier could be cleaning up its credit card portfolio since the new regulations will limit its ability to raise interest rates. That could mean First Premier won't issue cards as liberally to those with bad credit.

As harsh as First Premier's terms seem, that could be a blow to those who rely on the card, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com.

"Even when the cost of credit is astronomical, for people in true emergencies, it's much better than not having access to credit," said Papadimitriou.

Until Feb. 21, First Premier is still offering its even-higher-fee card online. So the price for credit the bank charges is at least $256 in first-year fees.

'America's Best Dance Crew' judge Shane Sparks has been arrested in Los Angeles and charged with 8 counts of child molestation, TMZ is reporting. The Los Angeles Police Department took Sparks into custody at 8 am PT Friday morning on a warrant.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged incidents began occurring in 1994 and involve only one victim. Sparks has been charged for alleged molestation of an underage girl. These crimes are considered felonies.

The complaint accuses Sparks of engaging in acts "with the intent of arousing, appealing to, and gratifying the lust, passions, and sexual desires of the defendant, who was at least 10 years older than [the victim]."

Sparks is actually the second person tied to 'So You Think You Can Dance' who's been in trouble with the law. Earlier this year, his co-star and dancing instructor Alex Da Silva was charged with sexual assault.

He has also worked with artists such as Aaliyah, Monica, and Lindsay Lohan.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Chris Henry was killed this morning after falling out of a pickup truck following a domestic dispute with his fiance, according to police. Henry's fiance is reportedly Loleini Tonga, whoseMySpace page has been revealed. Scroll down for two pictures of Loleini Tonga.

Diddy' Combs and his girlfriend Kim Porter out on his yacht with their twin daughters D'Lila and Jessie in Saint Barthlemy, France.

Rihanna shops for shoes at Barney's of New York on Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills.

Nas attends the 2nd annual holiday dinner at Melba’s 125 on December 22, 2010 in New York City.

Hot in 2010

Spike Lee celebrates a shot by Danilo Gallinari #8 of the New York Knicks against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden on December 22, 2010

Kobe, Vanessa and Cleveage

Sean "Diddy" Combs spends the winter holidays aboard his yacht in St. Barth's with his family, including longtime on-again-off-again girlfriend Kim Porter.

Brandy poses in the press room during "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops"

Between Michael Vick(notes) and DeSean Jackson(notes), the Eagles have the two most explosive, athletic players in football. Jackson is simply remarkable when he gets his hands on the ball.

Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie Bridges out shopping on a rainy day at Joan Boyce Jewelry in Beverly Hills

Knicks' Amare cozies up to Rose? The power forward left Madison Square Garden with curvaceous Rose after the game and partied with her at Midtown lounge Covet, and they left together at 2:00am Thursday. Bald, bodacious Rose attended the game with a friend and taped a viral video Tuesday night to encourage fans to vote Stoudemire to the NBA All-Star team.

Waka Flocka Flame's House Raided, Gucci Mane Held In Custody. During the raid, cops confiscated a Kel-Tech .223 cailber sub gun and a Taurus .40 caliber semi-automatic, as well as prescription drugs. Waka's momager, Debra Antney, ahd this to say:

LL Cool J, The Beastie Boys Do Not Make Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

"I feel like I would play a little better if I were as tall as I am in these stilettos." —Serena

Desean Jackson 91 Yard Pass From Michael Vick and DeSean rubs it in the Cowboys' face by falling backwards into the end zone.

DIDDY MEAN THAT? P Diddy lets everyone know what his take is on love after appearing on the "Chelsea Lately" show. The rapper, holding onto copies of his new album 'Last Train to Paris,

What does Illegal Immigration Cost California

Analysis of the latest Census data indicates that California's illegal immigrant population is costing the state's taxpayers more than $10.5 billion per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated tax contributions of illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to nearly $9 billion per year. The annual fiscal burden from those three areas of state expenditures amounts to about $1,183 per household headed by a native-born resident.

Gucci Mane sued by local event promoter

Gucci Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, sits in a Fulton County jail cell on a violation of probation charge, waiting for his spring release, but he won't be leaving his legal troubles behind him when he gets out.

Sync Your iPhone Wirelessly With iTunes Using Wi-Fi Sync App

Rev Manning is putting Obama, Columbia University, and the CIA on "trial" on May 14.

No one graduating the same year as President Obama supposedly graduated from Columbia, can remember him, either in their class or in their classes; nor does he appear anywhere in the Columbia University year books.

More "tricks" from Obama, Banking Regulation “Sideshow” Hyped To Push Through Banking Reform

Illegal Aliens try to "PiggyBack" on Legacy of African Americans and the Civil Rights Movement.